1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a washing machine, and more particularly, to a washing machine having a detergent supply apparatus which includes a detachable partition member removably mounted in a detergent chamber, so as to partition the detergent chamber into a main detergent storing section and a secondary detergent storing section, wherein the detergent chamber is used as the main detergent storing section in response to removal of the detachable partition member from the detergent chamber.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, washing machines are used to wash laundry by rotating a cylindrical rotary tub containing the laundry and wash water therein. Such washing machines have been typically classified into drum type washing machines and vertical shaft type washing machines. The drum type washing machines are designed such that a rotary tub is horizontally set in a housing and is rotated around a horizontal axis of the housing in opposite directions. Such actions repeatedly move the laundry seated on an internal surface of the rotary tub upward and allow the laundry to be dropped from the top to the bottom of the rotary tub to wash the laundry. In the vertical shaft type washing machines, a rotary tub with a pulsator is vertically set in a housing and is rotated around a vertical axis of the housing in opposite directions. Accordingly, laundry inside the rotary tub is washed by forced water currents generated by the pulsator.
FIG. 1 shows the construction of a drum type washing machine having a conventional detergent supply apparatus. The drum type washing machine includes a housing 1 which defines an outer appearance of the drum type washing machine. A water tub 9 having a drum shape is set in the housing 1 to contain wash water therein. A rotary tub 11 having a drum shape is rotatably set in the water tub 9 to wash laundry.
The water tub 9 is suspended in the housing 1 by suspension rods (not shown) and shock absorbers (not shown). An opening is formed on a front wall of the rotary tub 11 so as to place and remove the laundry from the rotary tub 11. The rotary tub 11 is perforated on its sidewall to have spin-drying perforations 11a. Furthermore, lifters 11 b are positioned on an internal surface of the rotary tub 11 at regular intervals. The lifters 11b are used to repeatedly move the laundry seated on the internal surface of the tub 11 upward and drop the laundry from the top to the bottom inside the rotary tub 11 to wash the laundry. The lifters 11b move in response to the rotary tub 11 being rotated by a drive motor 12 installed on a bottom wall of the housing 1.
A front door 13 is mounted to a front wall of the housing 1 to selectively close the opening of the rotary tub 11. A drain pump 14, a drain hose 15 and a filter 16 are installed at a bottom wall of the housing 1, and are used to discharge the wash water to the outside.
A cold water supply valve 7 and a hot water supply valve 8 are provided on an upper portion of the housing 1, and are connected to corresponding external water supply sources. The washing machine also has a conventional detergent supply apparatus 20. This detergent supply apparatus 20 selectively mixes a detergent or a fabric softener with the wash water fed through the cold and hot water supply valves 7 and 8, and then supplies the mixed wash water to the water tub 9.
FIG. 2 shows the construction of the conventional detergent supply apparatus 20. The conventional detergent supply apparatus 20 comprises a casing 21 having a box shape which is open at its front and top portions. A detergent/fabric softener container 22 is set in the casing 21. A water supply cover 23 covers the open top portion of the casing 21, and is connected to the cold and hot water supply valves 7 and 8 (see FIG. 1).
The casing 21 is inclined at its bottom to form a funnel shape. A wash water outlet 21a is formed at a lowermost portion of the funnel-shaped bottom to feed the wash water mixed with the detergent or the fabric softener to the water tub 9.
The detergent/fabric softener container 22 is open at its top and rear portions, and slidably installed in the casing 21. The detergent/fabric softener container 22 can move forward through the open front portion of the casing 21 so as to install the detergent/fabric softener container 22 replenished with the detergent and/or the fabric softener.
The detergent/fabric softener container 22 is partitioned into a secondary detergent storing chamber 26, a main detergent storing chamber 27, and a fabric softener storing chamber 28 by two partition walls 22a and 22b. In this case, the secondary detergent storing chamber 26 contains the detergent used for preliminary washing, while the main detergent storing chamber 27 contains the detergent used for main washing. The fabric softener storing chamber 28 contains the fabric softener used to rinse the laundry after washing the laundry. The open rear portion (not shown) of the detergent/fabric softener container 22 is spaced apart from a rear wall of the casing 21, and allows the wash water to flow to the wash water outlet 21a of the casing 21 from the storing chambers 26, 27, and 28 of the detergent/fabric softener container 22.
A siphon 29 is mounted to a bottom wall of the fabric softener storing chamber 28, so as to rapidly drain the wash water mixed with the fabric softener.
The water supply cover 23 covers the top portion of the casing 21, and is spaced apart from the detergent/fabric softener container 22 by a predetermined distance. The water supply cover 23 is provided with water supply chambers 26a, 27a, and 28a which correspond to the storing chambers 26, 27 and 28, respectively. A plurality of drain holes 24 are formed on a bottom wall of each of the water supply chambers 26a, 27a, and 28a, to supply the wash water contained in the water supply chambers 26a, 27a, and 28a to the storing chambers 26, 27, and 28.
As described above, the conventional detergent supply apparatus 20 is designed with two fixed partition walls 22a and 22b that are integrally formed in the detergent/fabric softener container 22 to provide the storing chambers 26, 27 and 28. The fabric softener storing chamber 28 is positioned between the secondary detergent storing chamber 26 and the main detergent storing chamber 27. Accordingly, the secondary detergent storing chamber 26 and the main detergent storing chamber 27 are invariable in their interior capacity.
However, a large quantity of detergent may be needed to wash laundry in an area where the quality of water is poor. In other times, a user may wish to place a large quantity of detergent in the washing machine to get the laundry clean. Nevertheless, since the conventional detergent supply apparatus 20 is designed such that its secondary detergent storing chamber 26 and the main detergent storing chamber 27 each have a fixed capacity, it is impossible to contain a quantity of detergent exceeding the fixed capacity.
In such a case, the user has to add the additional detergent in the washing machine during its operation, or a washing operation has to be repeated several times. An additional washing operation, in turn, requires use of additional wash water. Therefore, the conventional detergent supply apparatus 20 is not user friendly and may require an additional consumption of the wash water.
The sizes of the secondary and main detergent storing chambers 26 and 27 may be enlarged to accommodate sufficient quantities of detergent therein. However, with the enlargement of the storing chambers 26 and 27, the overall size of the detergent supply apparatus 20 is also increased, resulting in an increase in the scale of the washing machine and an increase in the manufacturing cost of the washing machine. With such a washing machine, a large space is also required to install the washing machine, and installation of a large washing machine is difficult.
On the other hand, the secondary detergent storing chamber 26 may be omitted to increase the size of the main detergent storing chamber 27 without increasing the overall size of the detergent supply apparatus 20. However, in the case of washing excessively dirty or oily laundry, the preliminary washing as well as the main washing cannot be carried out with a single operation of the washing machine. In such a case, the detergent must be added to the washing machine twice, for both the preliminary washing and the main washing, making it inconvenient for a user to wash the laundry.